Earlier this month, a key NIH committee, the Secretary's Advisory Committee on Genetics, Health and Society (SACGHS), recommended
[PDF presentation] that gene patents should be exempted from
infringement liability - a significant policy shift that would give
researchers access to patented genetic information and allow medical
providers to offer tests even on genes that are patented.

According to Genome Web Daily News,
"If implemented, such policies could make it difficult or impossible
for holders of patents on some genes and genetic testing technology to
sue others using those genes." James Evans, chair of the SACGHS Task
Force on Gene Patents and Licensing, said that gene patents are not, as
defenders argue, "powerful" incentives for conducting genetic research
or developing gene tests, and that in fact they limit patient access to
genetic tests.

We tend to assume that our physical bodies are free from intellectual property claims, but a recent lawsuit by the ACLU shows us just how wrong that is. Medical research companies are actually filing patents on genes that are thought to cause certain cancers. Is this providing incentive for medical research, or a frightening step forward in corporate control?

Meanwhile, the ACLU / Public Patent Foundation lawsuit challenging human gene patents has begun winding its way through the courts. A federal judge is expected to decide soon on motions to dismiss the case filed by the defendants, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and patent holders Myriad Genetics and the University of Utah Research Foundation.